SIGNIFICANT COMMITTEE ACTIONS

H.B. 257 (Hilderbran), Relating to the periods for presumed abandonment of certain unclaimed personal property. Reported from the House Committee on Ways and Means. As reported, the bill would modify the time in which a utility deposit becomes abandoned property.

H.B. 342 (Fletcher), Relating to the reinstatement of a firefighter or police officer following a decision rendered by the Fire Fighters’ and Police Officers’ Civil Service Commission or an independent third party hearing examiner. Reported from the House Committee on Urban Affairs.

H.B. 343 (Fletcher), Relating to the reporting and recording of a motor vehicle accident involving an official vehicle driven by a peace officer, firefighter, or an emergency medical services employee in the course of official duties. Reported from the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety.

H.B. 348 (Walle), Relating to education and training for school district peace officers, school resource officers, and school security personnel employed by a school district. Reported from the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety. As reported, the bill would provide that a peace officer may not serve as a school district peace officer for more than a certain number of days unless the peace officer has completed additional education and training program approved by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

H.B. 360 (J. Jackson), Relating to ballot language for a proposition to approve the imposition or increase of a tax or the issuance of bonds. Reported from the House Committee on Elections.

H.B. 469 (Callegari), Relating to the calculation of ad valorem taxes on the residence homestead of a 100 percent or totally disabled veteran for the tax year in which the veteran qualifies or ceases to qualify for an exemption from taxation of the homestead. Reported from the House Committee on Ways and Means. (Companion bill is S.B. 201 by Uresti.)

H.B. 470 (C. Anderson), Relating to the addition of Salvia divinorum and its derivatives and extracts to Penalty Group 3 of the Texas Controlled Substances Act. Reported from the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence.

H.B. 564 (Craddick), Relating to inspection of portable fire extinguishers in government-owned vehicles in certain local governmental jurisdictions. Reported from the House Committee on Urban Affairs. As reported, the bill would provide that a local government that adopts an ordinance, order, or policy requiring motor vehicles owned by the local government to be equipped with portable fire extinguishers shall require maintenance to be performed on the portable fire extinguishers annually in accordance with standards that are at least as stringent as the National Fire Protection Association Standard Number 10 - Portable Fire Extinguishers.

H.B. 611 (Murphy), Relating to the provision of certain professional services by certain governmental entities. Reported from the House Committee on Government Efficiency and Reform. (Companion bill is S.B. 829 by D. Patrick.)

H.B. 782 (Y. Davis), Relating to a requirement that certain bond issuers obtain an appraisal of property that is to be purchased with bond proceeds. Reported from the House Committee on Urban Affairs.

H.B. 887 (Geren), Relating to registration of a motor vehicle alleged to have been involved in a violation detected by a photographic traffic signal enforcement system. Reported from the House Committee on Transportation.

H.B. 896 (C. Howard), Relating to auxiliary members of an appraisal review board. Reported from the House Committee on Ways and Means.

H.B. 956 (Marquez), Relating to the state fire marshal’s investigation of the death of a firefighter who dies in the line of duty or in connection with an on-duty incident. Reported from the House Committee on Urban Affairs. (Companion bill is S.B. 396 by Deuell.)

H.B. 966 (Murphy), Relating to the consideration of pension and other postemployment benefits in establishing the rates of a gas utility. Reported from the House Committee on State Affairs. (Companion bill is S.B. 403 by Eltife.)

H.B. 1083 (Elkins), Relating to the issuance of an identification card to certain honorably retired peace officers. Reported from the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety.

H.B. 1089 (Martinez Fischer), Relating to the authority of a county or municipality to require the removal of graffiti by a property owner. Reported from the House Committee on Urban Affairs. (This is a TML priority bill.)(Companion bill is H.B. 1425 by Garza.)

H.B. 1137 (Darby), Relating to the transmission of records regarding over-the-counter sales of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and norpseudoephedrine and a person's civil liability for certain acts arising from the sale of those products. Reported from the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety. (Companion bill is S.B. 913 by Estes.)

H.B. 1147 (W. Smith), Relating to notice by a governmental entity regarding certain geospatial data products. Reported from the House Committee on Technology.

H.B. 1168 (D. Miller), Relating to smoke alarms and fire extinguishers in residential rental units. Reported from the House Committee on Business and Industry. As reported, the bill would make several changes to the law regarding smoke alarms and fire extinguishers in residential rental units, including that: (1) a local ordinance could not require that a smoke alarm powered by alternating current, rather than battery, be installed in a dwelling unit built before September 1, 1987, unless: (a) the interior of the unit is repaired, remodeled, or rebuilt at a projected cost of more than $5,000, the work requires a building permit, and the work results in the removal of interior walls or ceiling finishes exposing the structure or the interior of the unit provides access for wiring through an attic, crawl space, or basement; or (b) an addition occurs to the unit at a projected cost of more than $5,000; and (2) if a dwelling unit was occupied as a residence before September 1, 2011, or a certificate of occupancy was issued before that date, a smoke alarm may be powered by battery if installed in the appropriate manner.

H.B. 1547, (Larson),would change the way desired future conditions for the groundwater resources in a groundwater management area are established, including changes to the way available groundwater in an aquifer is defined and calculated. Reported from the House Committee on Natural Resources.

H.B. 1559 (S. Davis), Relating to a prohibition on the destruction of certain court documents. Reported from the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence.

H.B. 1595 (Isaac), Relating to regulation and enforcement of laws affecting sport shooting ranges. Reported from the House Committee on House Culture, Recreation. and Tourism. As reported, the bill would: (1) prohibit a governmental unit, including a city, from bringing suit against a sport shooting range for the lawful discharge of firearms on the sport shooting range; (2) prohibit a city from regulating the discharge of a firearm at a sport shooting range; and (3) allow a city to enforce an ordinance or regulation through injunctive relief against a sport shooting range under certain circumstances. (Companion bill is S.B. 766 by Estes.)

H.B. 1649 (Marquez), Relating to the enforcement of building code standards for new residential construction in the unincorporated area of a county. Reported from the House Committee on County Affairs. (Companion bill is S.B. 861 by Rodriguez.)

H.B. 1711 (J. Davis), Relating to disaster remediation contracts. Reported from the House Committee on Economic and Small Business Development.

H.B. 1933 (W. Smith), Relating to the regulation of metal recycling entities. Reported from the House Committee on House Environmental Regulation.

H.B. 1979 (Laubenberg), Relating to strategic partnerships for the continuation of certain water districts annexed by a municipality. Reported from the House Committee on House Natural Resources. (Companion bill is S.B. 1082 by Hegar.)

H.B. 2468 (Phillips), Relating to providing a patron of a pay-to-park or valet parking service with certain information. Reported from the House Committee on Business and Industry.

H.B. 2551 (Chisum), Relating to the land application of grit trap waste. Reported from the House Committee on Environmental Regulation.

H.B. 2619 (Callegari), Relating to the submission of information about critical water and wastewater facilities.Reported from the House Committee on Natural Resources. As reported, the bill would provide that: (1) each water and wastewater utility, including a municipally owned utility, shall annually submit certain infrastructure information to each retail electric provider that sells electric power to the utility, each electric utility that provides transmission and distribution service to the utility, the office of emergency management of each county in which the utility has water and wastewater facilities that qualify for critical load status under rules adopted by the Public Utility Commission (PUC), and to the PUC and the division of emergency management of the governor; and (2) if an electric utility determines that a water or wastewater utility’s facilities do not qualify for critical load status, the electric utility and the retail electric provider shall provide a detailed explanation of the electric utility’s determination to the affected utility and to the office of emergency management of the county in which the water and wastewater facilities are located.

H.B. 2663 (Chisum), Relating to the effect of rules and standards adopted by the Railroad Commission of Texas relating to the liquefied petroleum gas industry on ordinances, orders, or rules adopted by political subdivisions relating to that industry. Reported from the House Committee on Energy Resources.

H.B. 2817 (L. Taylor), Relating to certain election practices and procedures. Reported from the House Committee on Elections. (Companion bill is S.B. 849 by Duncan)

H.B. 2826 (Murphy), Relating to the issuance of a certificate for a municipal setting designation. Reported from the House Committee on Environmental Regulation.

H.B. 2853 (J. Davis), Relating to tax increment financing. Reported from the House Committee on Economic and Small Business Development.

H.B. 2973 (Hunter), Relating to encouraging public participation by citizens by protecting a person's right to petition, right of free speech, and right of association from meritless lawsuits arising from actions taken in furtherance of those rights. Reported from the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence. As reported, the bill would attempt to curtail Strategic lawsuits against public participation (sometimes referred to as SLAPP lawsuits). (Companion bill is S.B. 1565 by Ellis.)

H.B. 2989 (Deshotel), Relating to establishing the Workplace Fraud Prevention Act. Reported from the House Committee on Business and Industry.

H.B. 3487 (V. Taylor), Relating to regulations concerning certain service animals. Reported from the House Committee on Business and Industry.

H.B. 3510 (Hamilton), Relating to the regulation of the towing, booting, and storage of vehicles. As reported, the bill would: (1) define an “incident management tow” to include the removal of a vehicle, cargo, and debris from an accident or incident scene; (2) define a “parking facility” to include certain lots or areas that charge a fee for parking; (3) allow the Texas Commission of Licensing and Regulation (Commission) to adopt different rules for two trucks, towing operators, towing companies, booting companies, and boot operators; (4) require the Commission to adopt requirements for a consent tow, private property tow, and incident management tow; (5) delete certain provisions related to alcohol testing of towing operators; (6) impose certain requirements regarding the renewal of a license under Occupations Code Chapter 2308 relating to towing and booting; (7) limit the fee charged for a private property tow and service related to a private property tow to that established under Chapter 2308 or authorized by a political subdivision; (8) provide that a homeowner or tenant under a written lease agreement who does not charge for parking may authorize the removal of an unauthorized vehicle that is blocking entry to or exit from a home or driveway; (9) provide that a boot operator may boot certain unauthorized vehicles in rural areas if the parking facility owner requests the boot or has a standing agreement with the boot operator; (10) require a vehicle storage facility accepting a vehicle that is towed (except for an incident management tow requested by a law enforcement agency) to report the tow and certain other information to the police or sheriff, as applicable, within two hours of receiving the vehicle; (11) require certain signage before the towing or booting of vehicles under certain circumstances; (12) provide, in regard to hearings under Chapter 2308 that: (a) court costs and attorneys fees may be recovered in some instances; (b) a justice court has jurisdiction over a hearing in the precinct in which the vehicle storage facility is located; and (c) the failure of a party to participate in a hearing constitutes waiver of the right to appeal; (13) provide that a failure to comply with certain permitting, licensing, and fee requirements is enforceable by law enforcement; and (14) repeal certain provisions related to the fees for private property tows, the filing of reports/schedules, attorney’s fees. (Companion bill is S.B. 1371 by Carona.)

H.B. 3823 (Thompson), Relating to the regulation of certain telecommunicators. Reported from the House Committee on Homeland Security and Public Safety.

H.J.R. 56 (Solomons), Relating to proposing a constitutional amendment to restrict the power of the legislature to mandate requirements upon certain local governments. Reported from the House Committee on State Affairs. As reported, the bill would provide that a local government is required to establish, expand, or modify a duty or activity that requires the expenditure of revenue by the local government is not effective unless the legislature appropriates or otherwise provides, from a source other than the revenue of the local government, for the payment or reimbursement of the costs incurred for the biennium by the local government in complying with the requirement.

S.B. 100 (Van de Putte), Relating to the adoption of voting procedures necessary to implement the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act. Reported from the Senate State Affairs Committee. (Companion bill is H.B. 111 by V.Taylor.)

S.B. 309 (Harris), Relating to the events eligible to receive funding through a major events trust fund. Reported from the House Committee on Economic and Small Business Development. (Companion bill is H.B. 735 by D. Patrick.)

S.B. 313(>Seliger), Relating to priority groundwater management areas. Reported from the House Committee on Natural Resources.

S.B. 350 (Williams), Relating to the restructuring of fund obligations and accounts of the Texas Municipal Retirement System and related actuarial and accounting procedures. Reported from the House Committee on Pensions and Investments. (Companion bill is H.B. 997 by Truitt.)

S.B. 370 (Seliger), Relating to the authority of the Texas Water Development Board to provide financial assistance for certain projects if the applicant has failed to complete a request for information relevant to the project. Reported from the House Committee on Natural Resources. (Companion bill is H.B. 1734 by Ritter.)

S.B. 375 (Wentworth), Relating to categories of information presumed to be public under the public information law. Reported from the Senate Select Committee on Open Government. As reported, the bill: (1) provides that certain types of information are expressly public unless they are made confidential under the Public Information Act or other law; and (2) clarifies that certain provisions of the Public Information Act provide for confidentiality of certain types of information. (Companion bill is H.B. 1044 by Solomons.)

S.B. 602 (Rodriguez), Relating to allowing a governmental body to redact certain personal information under the public information law without the necessity of requesting a decision from the attorney general and the calculation of certain deadlines. Reported from the Senate Select Committee on Open Government. As reported, the bill would: (1) authorize a governmental body to redact certain motor vehicle record information without the necessity of requesting a decision from the attorney general; (2) authorize a governmental body to redact a credit card, debit card, charge card, or access device number without the necessity of requesting a decision from the attorney general; (3) give a requestor the right to seek a decision from the attorney general if information is redacted as described in (1) or (2), above; (4) require a governmental body that redacts information as described in (1) or (2), above, to provide the requestor with a description of the redacted information, a citation to the statute that authorizes the governmental body to redact the information, and instructions regarding how the requestor may seek a decision from the attorney general regarding whether the redacted information is excepted from disclosure; (5) make a public information request that is modified in response to the requirement of a deposit or bond a separate request that is considered received on the date the governmental body receives the modified request; and (6) provide that if a governmental body receives a written request by mail and cannot establish the actual date of receipt, the written request is considered to be received on the third business day after the date of the postmark.(Companion bill is H.B. 1671 by Marquez.)

S.B. 661 (Nichols), Relating to the continuation of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the Office of Public Utility Counsel, and the Public Utility Commission of Texas and to the transfer of functions from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Reported from the Senate Committee on Government Organization.

S.B. 726 (Rodriguez), Relating to the establishment of the judicial access and improvement account to provide funding for basic civil legal services, indigent defense, and judicial technical support through certain county service fees and court costs. Reported from the Senate Finance Committee. (Please see article elsewhere in this edition.)

S.B. 913 (Estes), Relating to the transmission of records regarding over-the-counter sales of ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, and norpseudoephedrine and a person's civil liability for certain acts arising from the sale of those products. Reported from the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. (Companion bill is H.B. 1137 by Darby.)

S.B. 924 (Carona), Relating to energy efficiency reports by municipally owned utilities and electric cooperatives. Reported from the Senate Business and Commerce Committee.

S.B. 943 (Carona), Relating to the classification and use of energy storage equipment or facilities and the provision of studies and reports regarding energy storage equipment or those facilities. Reported from the Senate Business and Commerce Committee. (Companion bill is H.B. 1421 by Anchia.)

S.B. 1134 (Hegar), Relating to air permitting requirements for certain oil and gas facilities. Reported from the Senate Natural Resources Committee. As reported, the bill would: (1) require the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to perform certain environmental and air quality analyses before adopting a new permit or amending an existing permit relating to certain oil and gas facilities; (2) authorize the TCEQ to authorize planned maintenance, startup, or shutdown activities from certain oil and gas facilities; (3) allow the application of certain affirmative defenses under TCEQ rules to certain unauthorized emission or opacity events from a planned maintenance, start-up, or shutdown activity; and (4) authorize the TCEQ to amend a permit that has been adopted by the TCEQ before this bill takes effect to require that the permit holder to provide certain information about the authorized facility to the TCEQ and require a facility handling sour gas to be a minimum distance from a recreational area or residence, in most cases.

S.B. 1217 (Estes), Relating to an excavator's duty to notify a notification center before excavating. Reported from the Senate Business and Commerce Committee. (Companion bill is H.B. 263 by Hilderbran.)

S.B. 1258 (Duncan), Relating to the disposal of demolition waste from abandoned or nuisance buildings in certain areas. Reported from the Senate Natural Resources Committee. (Companion bill is H.B. 2013 by Hardcastle.)

S.B. 1269 (Wentworth), Relating to honorariums offered to and accepted by public servants. Reported from the Senate Select Committee on Open Government. As reported, the bill would: (1) remove an honorarium consisting of transportation, lodging, and meals from the definition of a “political contribution,” and (2) would create an exemption for honoraria consisting of transportation, lodging, and meals from the offenses relating to offering gifts to public servants and accepting gifts by public servants. (Companion bill is H.B. 2629 by Branch.)

S.B. 1341 (Seliger), Relating to the participation by a taxing unit in a suit to compel an appraisal review board to order a change in an appraisal roll. Reported from the Senate Intergovernmental Relations Committee. (Companion bill is H.B. 1435 by Elkins.)

S.B. 1363 (Lucio), Relating to authorizing certain counties and municipalities to regulate land development. Reported from the Senate International Relations and Trade Committee. (Companion bill is H.B. 3114 by V. Gonzales.)

S.B. 1420 (Hinojosa), Relating to the continuation and functions of the Texas Department of Transportation. Reported from the Senate Government Organization Committee. (Companion bill is H.B. 2675 by Harper-Brown.)

S.B. 1442 (Shapiro), Relating to the application requirements for a local project permit. Reported from the Senate Select Committee on Open Government. As reported, the bill would provide that rights to which a permit applicant is entitled under Chapter 245 of the Local Government Code (the “permit vesting” statute) accrue on the filing of a required original application or plan for development or plat application that gives the regulatory agency fair notice that is sufficient to enable a reasonably prudent person to understand the project and the nature of the permit sought. (Companion bill is H.B. 2732 by Oliveira.)

S.B. 1494 (Uresti), Relating to reporting to the Texas Judicial Council the election or appointment of certain municipal officers. Reported from the Senate Jurisprudence Committee.

S.B. 1638 (W. Davis), Relating to the exception of certain personal information from required disclosure under the public information law. Reported from the Senate Select Committee on Open Government.

>S.B. 1752 (>Uresti), Relating to confidentiality of Class C misdemeanor records related to the conviction of a child. Reported from the Senate Jurisprudence Committee.

S.J.R. 40(Lucio), Proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing a county to regulate land development if approved by a majority vote in a countywide election. Reported from the Senate International Relations and Trade Committee. (Companion bill is H.J.R. 134 by Oliveira.)

TML member cities may use the material herein for any purpose. No other person or entity may reproduce, duplicate, or distribute any part of this document without the written authorization of the Texas Municipal League.